Another roundup?!?! No. This is a squaredown.

including a mini-essay called Date Night, useful tech recs, and NOTHING THAT EVEN VAGUELY resembles a roundup !

Isn't it funny how every substack in the global united states is sending a roundup with all the best and links, kinks, and sausage minx around?

And yet no one, and I do mean, no one, even dares to consider that perhaps what we need is something different?

That perhaps what we need is a…

squaredown?

Now look, I know what you're thinking: ‘They told us in school to never even think about doing a squaredown. They said  being anywhere near a squaredown could permanently damage our brains like they’d just stay squared down and never round up again.’

Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it (let the dentists drum up their own business, that’s what I’ve always said): they might be right. They might be so right it hurts but that's not going to stop me from crying. Trying. I meant to write Trying. 

Welcome to the squaredown

Sure, it’s a funny name. No one, not even the critics at the New York Time (not the Times - this is a different place where they only work at 5:52 - that’s the one and only time), said it would work.

But look whose talking now!! (the baby film reference)

So what will happen here you ask? Well, it's not going to be anything like a roundup let me tell you that right now.

I mean, I will share some links, but they'll be NOTHING LIKE the stuff you see in other roundups. Sure some of them might be for stuff you can listen to or read but IT’LL BE SO FUCKING DIFFERENT from a roundup you’ll have to look at the person sitting next to you and go, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, Kyde, this is NOT a roundup.’

And Kyde would go, ‘I know,’ cuz he’s the one who shared it with you in the first place. But there’d be no anger in his voice, like he was all zen’d out from a meditation or something.

Here’s our agenda for today:

• A mini-essay called Date Night

• A bunch of tech recs of stuff I use when writing and brainstorming etc

• Read and listen and more recs (different from a roundup)

• Questions for the comments section!

Date Night

There is no commodity more precious to the parents of a toddler than the few hours afforded by a once-in-a-fortnight date night.

Last night, Lauren and I went to see David Sedaris read from his books — the middle-aged equivalent of seeing Lady Gaga.